Mashketeers? Crawford Crush? Yard Crew? You name ’em!

Maybe Cecil Cooper just needed all his regulars. Except for J.R. Towles, Cooper played it “straight” Friday, using his seventh inning guy (Geoff Geary), his eighth inning guy (Doug Brocail) and his closer (Jose Valverde) in succession for one of the few times this season.

Not to mention Michael Bourn was back at the top of the order and Ty Wigginton was in his seventh spot. That means that Geoff Blum and Mark Loretta were in their more comfortable spots…on the bench.

And how ’bout that middle of the order? Any nickname ideas for the Tejada-Berkman-Lee-Pence combo if they have many more games like Friday night. Four Horsemen seems a little trite and obvious.

If they get on track, that combination — or any two or three at a time — could carry the Astros a long way. They could make up for a bad pitching start. They could negate a three-error game by your second baseman. They could make you forget an 1-for-8 performance from the top two in your order.

Berkman and Tejada have been hot for weeks. If Lee and Pence catch up, Bourn and Matsui are going to start seeing lots of good pitches. After 30 games, here’s what the Fearsome Foursome, Four Horseman and (insert your suggestion here) are on a pace for in the home run and RBI department:

• Berkman: 49/140.

• Tejada: 27/130

• Lee: 38/92

• Pence: 16/70

That’s some pretty serious production considering Lee (.270) and Pence (.260) are neither hitting on all cylinders.

The Miggy-Berkman-Lee 3-4-5 could rival if not exceed the Bagwell-Berkman-Kent combo of a few years ago. But can you come up with a potentially more potent 3-4-5 AND 6 grouping for the Astros?

• •• ••• •• •

• Bourn was 0-for-4, but hit the ball hard three times.

• Wandy Rodriguez could return to the rotation as early as next Tuesday. So here we go again with name the odd-man out.

• If you were perhaps thinking that Vic Diaz was an option to bolster the Astros’ outfield, think again. The Astros released the outfielder and his .296 average Thursday.

• Yeah, how ’bout that defense?! Kaz Matsui now has almost as many errors (5) as the rest of the Astros (7).

Gotta admit I’m surprised they swept Milwaukee. I don’t want to draw too much from it, but it was very exciting, and I hope they can keep in mind what they just did.

This series with Washington has to be considered “very winnable”, especially with Roy and Brandon pitching. Another sweep and we’re set up nicely for a trip to the West Coast. Hopefully Caballo catches fire soon; they didn’t need him against Milwaukee thanks to Berkman and Tejada hitting so well, but the lineup gets tougher if he’s “on”.

I’ll give the Astros props for seeming to have the spark or fire that was absent the past couple years. I don’t know if it’s Miggy’s arrival, but they seem to be playing hard and don’t accept that a game is over if they get down a couple of runs.

How about “THE Storm”, you know the announcer says ” the Astros have their 3-4-5-6 hitters coming up this innning” and the color guys says ” Yep here comes THE Storm. It works on so many levels that anyone living in this area during “THE Storm” season can relate. I mean think about it you could just go on forever.

I like Bourn,but right now I’d sit him. He’s goin to eventually turn things around.Bourn will learn how to hit and when he gets it he will be a star.But right now if I had a shot at Lofton for 1 year I’d take it.If we don’t get him somebody will. Lofton is the player that you want Bourn to become. Its a temporary solution,but it makes us better.

Chip… there’s no reason to change anything about the Astros line-up. Bourn’s been hitting the ball decently and has little to show for it. That will change. This team will score bunches of runs. The key to winning will be middle relief. Those guys will have to step up and keep us in games after our starters give-up 3-5 runs in five or six innings of work. Hopefully the starters will eventually get into the seventh inning, but that’s probably not going to happen.

Steven, yeah they interviewed the kid a couple of times during the game. Now that’s the kind of story about a major league player I want to hera about. The national media should be giving it some attention.

Tejeda sure is making Everett’s defense look like an afterthought. The offense far outweighs that defensive edge. Projected, Tejeda has scored 19 more runs, and driven in 19 more runs. That translates to .750 runs per game difference, lower any pitcher’s ERA that much comparing the two.

Yeah having a hard time understanding keeping Jose Cruz Jr. and his terrible bat and releasing Diaz, he would of been a better pinch bat and has a lot more power, don’t know if the family ties played into that or what…my guess is they thought Cruz was more valuable because he can play more positions but we already have Loretta and Blum so who knows???

Great game tonight. Some might say we’re overly dependent on the long ball, but I like the excitement.

Hey Coop, you want to play that Hunter kid regularly now? I think he’s earned it (again).

I haven’t put too much thought into the name ideas, but if you’re just counting 3-4-5, I’ve got “Torrid Trio”. And a non-numerically specific one, “Puma Express”. Since there’s a train, and Puma’s the leader, of sorts.

“Bourn was 0-for-4, but hit the ball hard three times.”

He was also the only starter not to get a hit. Gotta feel bad for the guy when even Roy gets a hit and he can’t.

“The Astros released the outfielder and his .296 average Thursday.”

Didn’t he have a problem with K’s, though? I guess there’s nothing to say that he’d be Jimerson, Part II, but whatever. Outfield is the least (after 1B) of the team’s problems.

_____________________________

I thought it was hilarious how Villanueva absolutely shut us down, and then the third time through the order he gets crushed. And Oswalt got a win on a night he didn’t particularly earn one. Well, he thinks he earned it. I don’t agree, though.

Oh, and props to Cooper for making solid moves. He worked the ‘pen just like it should have been, and pinch-hitting Cruz, Jr. paid off thanks to his plate discipline.

I just wanted all the regular bloggers out there to know, Miguel Tejada had lunch with a disabled young man yesterday, and at that lunch he promised the kid he would do everything he could to hit a homerun for him. With the kid sitting in the first row Miggy kept his promise, then gave the kid the bat and signed it. Miguel Tejada may have some skeletons in his closet, and I sometimes questioned his character when it comes to the use of PED’s to get where he is, but today he proved that he is as much a class act then anyone that plays in the major leagues today.